Alleged Muni stabber placed on $5M bail

The homeless man charged with attempted murder in connection with four separate stabbing attacks had a $5 million bail set Thursday, and a judge continued his arraignment until Dec. 11.

Bobby Brown Jr., 30, appeared in court for the first time Thursday after he was arrested on suspicion of stabbing Rachel “Ty” Brown, 24, on Monday with a corkscrew while she sat on the J-Church Muni train. The two are not related.

In addition to Monday’s incident, Brown also is being charged in three other recent stabbings.

They include the September attack on an 11-year-old boy riding a 49-Van Ness/Mission Muni bus and the November stabbings of a 25-year-old woman in Lower Nob Hill and a 26-year-old woman walking with her three kids near Leavenworth Street and Golden Gate Avenue.

All four victims survived.

Brown walked into the courtroom Thursday with a red jail uniform, indicating he’s a high-risk detainee, and said only three words.

When Judge Donna Alyson Little asked him if he could afford an attorney, Brown said, “No, I cannot.”

He’s facing four counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon, six counts of battery and one count of attempted robbery.

In the past decade, Brown has served time in Mule Creek State Prison, San Quentin State Prison at least three times, San Mateo County Jail and San Francisco County Jail. His criminal record includes several parole violations, punching a woman in the face at a BART station in Oakland and a 1999 shooting in The City.

Private defense attorney V. Roy Lefcourt, who was appointed by the Public Defender’s Office because of budget issues, met Brown for the first time Thursday. Lefcourt asked the judge to continue the arraignment until Dec. 11.

Lefcourt said Brown was “overwhelmed” and “shocked,” and that he believes Brown will plead not guilty.